MotoGP France: Pedrosa pinning hopes on tyre grip

The lightest rider on the MotoGP grid at 51kg, Dani Pedrosa has suffered with the stiffer rear tyre construction introduced following Scott Redding's incident in Argentina.

The lightest rider on the MotoGP grid at 51kg, Dani Pedrosa has suffered with the stiffer rear tyre construction introduced following Scott Redding's incident in Argentina.

The Repsol Honda rider managed to salvage fourth in the recent Jerez race, then spent the post-race test trying to generate grip on corner exit ahead of another traditionally 'slippery' event at Le Mans this weekend.

"In the last race I couldn't go full-throttle on the straights because the rear tyre was spinning too much, and I think that also in Le Mans a lot will depend on how the tyre will get grip from the track," Pedrosa said.

"Normally this isn't a 'super-grippy' track, so we'll have to continue working on that side in order to make it better.

"In the Jerez test, we tried to improve our feeling, testing different things such as suspension and some other solutions thought to provide more grip out of the turns and to make the bike faster into the tight corners.

"We'll see if the info collected will be useful on a practical level in Le Mans. Finally, let's hope the weather will be kind to us."

Pedrosa made his return from arm pump surgery at last year's Le Mans round, falling in the race on his way to 16th. The Spaniard is fourth in the world championship, but has less than half the points of team-mate and title leader Marc Marquez.